Sgt. Sean Murphy, a 25-year veteran, released the photos to the magazine in July in response to the suspect, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, gracing the cover of Rolling Stone. The new photos show Tsarnaev bloodied and emerging from the inside of a boat in a Watertown, Mass., backyard on April 19.

Tsarnaev appears disoriented in the photos and illuminated by a bright floodlight. He is seen raising his hands and straddling the side of the boat, which is bloodstained. A team of heavily-armed officers is seen moving toward the boat and arresting the suspect on a patch of grass.

Murphy said in a statement to Boston magazine at the time that the Rolling Stone cover photo was an insult and he wanted to show "the real Boston bomber."

Murphy wasn't authorized to release the photos and served a one-day unpaid suspension and was assigned to desk duty, MyFoxBoston.com reported. He was later transferred to the state police barracks in Athol and was put on the 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift.

State police said that Murphy's transfer to Athol was just an extension of his transfer to the field and was not a demotion or punishment.

"Because the allegation he faces is germane to his former role in media relations, the department confiscated his department-issued photography equipment," Dave Procopio, a state police spokesman, told MyFoxBoston.com. "He is under investigation for possibly violating departmental policy and regulations by releasing departmental material obtained in his media relations position without authorization."

Tsarnaev, 20, has pleaded not guilty in connection with the April 15 bombing that killed three and injured 260. He's also accused of killing Massachusetts Institute of Technology police officer Sean Collier while on the run three days later.

Tsarnaev escaped from police following a shootout in the Boston suburb of Watertown that day, during which he ran over his brother and alleged co-conspirator, Tamerlan Tsarnaev. His brother died of injuries suffered during the confrontation.